House Democrats are preparing to introduce an amendment to the Defense Production Act (DPA) to prevent federal agencies from retaliating against AI companies, following the Pentagon's dispute with AI firm Anthropic. Representative Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.) plans to offer this measure, which would prohibit federal agencies from punishing AI and emerging tech vendors, as part of the DPA Modernization Act markup on Wednesday. The Pentagon had raised the possibility of invoking the DPA to compel Anthropic to remove its safety restrictions during negotiations, though it ultimately did not. Senate Democrats are also exploring legislation to address concerns about the Pentagon's pursuit of AI systems that could enable domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons without human oversight. This legislative push comes amid a lack of comprehensive AI and consumer privacy laws in the U.S. and follows a public showdown over Anthropic's technology.